Oh, yes it can. Those who know me know that I love the cold season in Switzerland. I keep telling that I’d love to live in Switzerland in winter and in Alaska in summer…

Right now, though, I wish winter had long passed. My wife and I are travelling in Hokkaido, Japan. There is snow everywhere…piles of snow. Down at the coasts the white powder has melted, but as soon as you climb a few hundred meters ground is still covered with it. Worst, spring hasn’t really started yet. We learned the hard way that here in Hokkaido there’s either winter – most of the year – or summer. Flowers don’t start to blossom until end of May we were told and the first snow falls in late September. In south Hokkaido it may be slightly different but we are/were in central & north Hokkaido.

We have just come at a bad time as there really isn’t much to do. Even if we were to rent winter gear (which we didn’t bring) ski slops are already closed as this off-season is as much “off” as it can be. Is life miserable because of that? No, of course not, there are advantages, too. Fares are lower and most everywhere we go we’re alone – either because the place is closed or because all other tourists had given their journey proper planning 🙂